An anti-pop duo with a penchant for dynamic vocal effects, artistic live perofrmances, and sharp, tactile songwriting, Rainer Ild have been heralded as Estonia’s answer to Twenty One Pilots. A multi-talented duo who swap instruments and weave bold pop soundscapes, Rainer Ild and Sven Seinpere first rose to prominence after winning the national youth band contest Noortebänd, an achievement which paved the way for their critically-acclaimed debut album, ’Longero & Cheap Chips’. Since then, the band have been riding high, releasing a wave of impressive singles and championing the releae of their sophomore record, ’akimbo’.
Prior to the release of the album, the band had promised a heavier alt-pop sound, one that would hit with more weight and filled with a deaper meaning, and while their run of singles leading up to the album’s release might have glimpsed at their new sound, ’akimbo’ delivers more than we could have possibly imagined.
An eleven track collection that sees Rainer Ild delivering a torrent of sharp, visceral sounds, ’akimbo’ holds firm to its anti-pop underpinning, lashing out with a textured, stripped-back sound that is infused with plenty of raw emotion. Highlights and deeper meanings abound, and tracks like ’Red Light’ and ’Big Waste’ dominate with their dark, ambient tones and slow-burning soundscapes, blending the duo’s unique sound with some impressive guest spots by Robert Linna, Steps to Synapes, and Pauliina Ild, the niece of frontman Rainer Iild.
Speaking about the making of the new album, Rainer Ild described the process with absolute honesty, saying, “I started writing akimbo at the end of 2019. I made a promise that now I would write, record, produce one new song every week from start to finish. I did this for about thirty weeks until I finally had so much other life in between that I could no longer continue at the same pace. But by then, I had collected about forty new songs, from which we finally selected eleven. ’akimbo’ is about mental health. Sometimes, when I analyze situations that I fear the most, I discover some emotions that are sincere and somehow pure or unspoiled. From there, art and creation are formed for me.”
Deeply inspired by mental health and everyday struggles, ’akimbo’ is filled with hard truths and bold, relatable statements, and the band do an incredible job and protraying the heavy themes within their anti-pop sound. An album that has to be experienced, ’akimbo’ is streaming now on all major platforms.
Score: 8.5/10
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